Small group of multiple homeowners control 29% of Kamloops, Kelowna markets
More than 80% of homeowners in Kamloops and the Okanagan own only one home.
But, the much smaller group who own more than one home account for 29% of the housing stock in B.C., according to the latest housing data released by Statistics Canada.
The data shows that 15.6% of property owners in B.C. own more than one home. That proportion is higher in both Kamloops (17.9%) and Kelowna (16.2%), implying that the housing stock owned by this relatively small group could be higher than the 29% provincial average as well.
The data does not provide a breakdown of property stock ownership by city.
“Owners seeking additional properties contribute to increased competition in already tight real estate markets, making it more difficult for prospective homeowners to purchase a home,” a news release accompanying the data says. “In addition to their primary residences, multiple-property owners hold properties to receive rental income or for other investment purposes, or as a recreational property which may also provide rental income.”
The report doesn’t speculate on how multiple home ownership may affect housing affordability.
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The numbers are based on 2020 data so they don’t reflect home ownership changes that may have happened because of the COVID pandemic.
The data showed there were 87,990 home owners in the Kelowna census metropolitan area (meaning all of the Central Okanagan) in 2020. Of those, 12,280 owned more than one property.
In the Kamloops area, there were 45,485 property owners, of which 6,895 owned more than one property.
In B.C., business, government and other entities owned 10% of the province’s housing stock.
The majority of multi home owners owned two properties, usually two single-detached houses.
The report also says the number of first-time home buyers increased by 5.6% in B.C. between 2018 and 2019 while the number of repeat buyers dropped by 10.1%.
“The decrease in the number of repeat buyers in B.C. came in the wake of provincial legislation implemented to cool the real estate market, which may have dissuaded existing owners from moving or from investing in further properties,” the report says.
Those measures included, in 2018, the introduction of the speculation tax, an increase to the foreign buyer tax and higher taxes on properties worth more than $3 million.
The full report can be seen here.
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